Les Revenants is atypical and subversive in a variety of different ways! However, it is also highly conventional and even stereotypical in it's representation of certain societal groups. This post explores a few of these examples
How is Les Revenants atypical of the zombie/supernatural horror genres?
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| There is a huge dichotomy established between the supposed genre of the TV show, supernatural horror, and Camille's performance, which s broadly that of a stereotypical middle-class French girl. Much of the show's meaning is derived from playing off this binary opposition between the mundane and the horrific |
- The MES of Camille is highly atypical of the zombie genre, as she lack the MES of blood, torn clothing and open wounds. Instead Camille hegemonically associative of the upper middle class in a stereotypical manner
- Camille’s performance is highly atypical. The MES of C eating a sandwich constructs a highly atypical performance that situates the audience in a confusing mode of address
- Claire’s reaction is highly atypical, as she does not scream or attempt to defend herself against Camille. Claire instead plays a role of a confident and well-prepared middle aged woman. This confusing mode of address forces the audience to acknowledge that this narrative is highly atypical.
- By constructing an atypical zombie narrative, Gobert is able to target a niche audience as well as a mainstream audience of pre-existing genre fans
- Ethnocentrism: the belief that one’s nationality, group or ethnicity is the best and the most important
Exploring (stereo)typical representations
Middle class middle aged women: Claire
- Claire as a representation stands in for middle class, middle aged women. However in doing so, a number of stereotypes are constructed. In doing so, she reflects the ideological beliefs of the producer, and a means of identification for the audience.
- This is constructed through the subtle, skin pink clothing that casually flatters her. While Claire is not overtly sexualised, she is clearly hegemonically attractive in order to create a spectacle for the assumed heterosexual male audience. She also functions as a point of identification for the female middle class and middle aged target audience, as well as a pint of aspiration
- Camille’s stereotypically middle class performance demonstrates a repressed mode of address, that suggests that certain people must react in a certain way. By performing in such a strict and withheld manner, the producer also suggests that Claire is the product of a strict stereotypically middle class upbringing. Claire's performance is repressed and subtle, and reinforces the hegemonic assumption that the middle classes must be poised, well spoken and respectable.
Middle class teenage girls: Camille
- Camille conforms to a very specific representation of teenage girls not caring and being unphased by the world around them. This is reflected ion her unwillingness to draw attention to the bizarre situation she’s been in
- Camille is represented as other, different, strange and creepy. Her complete inability to see that anything is wrong creates an alarming and confusing mode of address for the target audience. She cluelessly stumbles back home through the stereotypically middle class environment of well maintained hedges and pristine roads by confidently walking down the middle of the road. Camille clearly believes she belongs in such a expensive and refined location, which suggests the middle classes are somewhat stuck up and entitled. Camille’s social status means the she faces no disequilibrium, and her experience is markedly different to the working class barmaid who is stabbed to death in an underpass